Druid
The druid is a shapeshifting hybrid class, and is also one of the most versatile classes in the game. As with every other hybrid, druids need to specialize to be effective in any role. Due to their need to shapeshift to fulfill roles, they can only perform one role at a time. Druids must switch between the different shapes in order to adapt to situations as they come. Background :We are the preservers of the balance, now and forever, as Malfurion lies in the Dreaming. Never forget this. - Kal of Dolanaar Druids are keepers of the world who walk the path of nature, following the wisdom of the Ancients and Cenarius, healing and nurturing the world. To a druid, nature is a delicate balance of actions, in which even the smallest imbalance can create storming turmoil from peaceful skies. Druids draw their power from this wild energy, using it to change their shapes and command the forces of nature.World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, 67 Traditionally druids chose the path of a specific animal totem. Since the invasion of the Burning Legion, however, most druids have undergone a number of reforms, including encouraging the study of magic from all totems. Druids who do this are known as Druids of the wild.Alliance Player's Guide, 14 History According to tauren lore, Cenarius instructed them first in druidism as recounted in their myth Forestlord and the First Druids. The series of Warcraft games has not expanded on this hypothesis however. As it currently stands, the Night Elves claim the "first" druid is Malfurion Stormrage, whose claim that he was the first mortal druid and Cenarius's greatest student is challenged by the Tauren teachings that they were the first. He would lead the night elves through the War of the Ancients and the long years that followed. With the creation of the World Tree Nordrassil, the kaldorei druids were bound to Ysera, and her realm, the Emerald Dream, in which they spent centuries of their immortal lives. The Cenarion Circle was formed as the governing society of druids, based in sacred Moonglade. Locked in slumber in their barrow dens for generations, the druids awoke to meet the threat of the Burning Legion during its recent invasion. After Archimonde's defeat, the druids chose to remain in the waking world and help to rebuild their shattered lands. The Legion's attack left a terrible scar on the natural order, and the druids seek to heal it. The night elf druids were recently joined in the Cenarion Circle by the tauren druids. It is not clear from the current game content if the tauren learned druidism separately from the night elves or if they were taught by the night elves. Conflicting information in the Warcraft universe further exacerbates the confusion. Either way, the tauren and the night elf druids do not participate in the Alliance/Horde conflict, but coexist peacefully within the Cenarion Circle. Cenarius is the patron entity of all druids. However, each group of druids has its own special patrons and some even have the ability to transform into a being that looks like their patron. Many druids will take on an animal companion based on their patron. Druids belong to many different organizations or types including the Cenarion Circle, Cenarion Expedition, Druids of the Claw, Druids of the Talon, Druids of the Wild, Druids of the Fang, Druids of the Antler, and Druids of the Grove. Notable druids * Cenarius * Malfurion Stormrage * Fandral Staghelm * Zaetar * Remulos * Hamuul Runetotem * Broll Bearmantle * Arch Druid Renferal * Arch Druid Lathorius * Arch Druid Lilliandra Overview The core abilities of a druid consists of three single-target and one multiple-target mage-like damage spells; four single-target and one multiple-target priest-like healing spells; a Cat Form containing basic damaging special moves similar to a rogue; a Bear Form yielding armor and health similar to a Warrior; poison- and curse-cleansing spells; and a range of utility spells like various travel forms, crowd control, and a nice group buff. Spending Talent points in the Talent trees allows Druids to specialize their play style as they see fit. *'Balance' Druids specialize in their assortment of damage spells and special abilities including an additional Moonkin Form, turning them into an efficient ranged spellcaster that is somewhere between a mage and a shadow priest in play style in the equivalent of plate armor. They lack true AoE capabilities like a mage, but they are capable of AoE damage in certain situitions. They excel at nuking single targets as well as providing effective off-healing and crowd control support for their group or raid. The Burning Crusade brought the Balance tree enough power to make a properly geared balance Druid decent competition with the pure caster classes for top DPS position. The Wrath of the Lich King expansion has given them new AoE spells and a significantly reworked talent tree, they are now on par with any of the other casting classes. * The Feral tree enhances both of the druid's melee forms, allowing them to tank and melee DPS more efficiently. The Talents in this tree usually enhance both forms, however some talents separate the two roles and gear also makes a difference. Feral druids are effectively a warrior and a rogue with the ability to heal themselves to boot. Lack of downtime between fights and flexibility in their armor and DPS are their strong points. Since they still have all of the core druid abilities and use very little mana, they make excellent support casters as well, even if they have chosen the path of melee DPS. *'Restoration' Druids take points in improving their assortment of healing spells and also in special abilities including an additional Tree of Life Form. Their resurrection spell Rebirth is the only resurrection spell that can be cast in combat, offset by its 20-minute cooldown. With Patch 3.0.2, Druids get the "regular" resurrection spell Revive, now making them viable main healers for 5-man instances. Restoration Druids have by far the best heal-over-time spells of all healing classes, effectively allowing them to continue healing while incapacitated. In addition, the mobility offered by their heal-over-time spells makes them especially effective in PvP. This together with their excellent mana efficiency and in-combat resurrection ability makes them an effective healing class. For an in-depth look at the talents, please see the Druid Talent Analysis page A properly specced and geared Druid is capable of fulfilling any of several roles in a group. Druid players need to be aware that this versatility also bears a danger — it may be difficult to keep focused when gathering gear. Also there can tend to be a great deal of doubt on the part of other players that a class can actually be as flexible as it is possible for druids to successfully be, hence they are not always welcomed in groups as they should be, though Burning Crusade and Blizzard's official endorsement of the Druid as one of their 'tapped' tanking classes has helped legitimize the druid class as something other than a healer to the populace in many ways. Indeed, it is not uncommon at all for a Feral druid in a group or raid to vary their role from encounter to encounter, moving from Main Tank, to Offtank, Melee DPS to Healing, and do them all successfully. It is even possible for these role changes to happen over the course of a single fight; however, a character's inability to change armor pieces in combat means the Druid must usually pick which role they will primarily act in before each encounter. The ability to spec to completely different roles makes druids a smart and flexible class choice: if you are tired of performing one task, you need not create another character to fulfill another role; you simply respec to a new one at little cost and considerably less effort. Druids are quite an uncommon class. Many find them difficult to level, while others proclaim them the best soloing class in the game. Moreover, since the druid population is extremely low, there have been fewer examples of a well-played druid for other players to have experience of and emulate. In order to truly fulfill a hybrid role, druids require several complete sets of gear above and beyond any resist sets that most classes will possess. This is always expensive in time, bag space, and gold. Unlike most other hybrid classes, a druid does not begin as a true hybrid with some abilities in each of their domains, instead they acquire utterly new branches of ability when they advance to certain specific levels. Thus a Druid is only complete at comparatively high levels. This can make the very early game for the druid more difficult than for other classes. However, once mastered, the druid is one of the most formidable classes in the game with much to contribute to any group, and can be extremely rewarding and enjoyable to play. Another nice feature about playing Druids is their ability to travel faster. Druids do not need to buy a flying mount; instead they gain flight form through druid trainers. Artisan riding skill is required to purchase or start the quest chain for the epic flight form. *Through a quest at level 16, Druids gain their aquatic form allowing them to breathe and travel at a 50% increased speed underwater (100% increased speed with Glyph of Aquatic Form). *At level 21, two Talent points can be put into Feral Swiftness making the cat form 30% faster than normal running speed (Dash can boost this for 15 sec, up to 70% at lvl 65). *At level 16, travel form is gained, which is 40% faster than normal run speed. Travel form can be cast in combat, making it a great escape tool when things go bad. *At level 60, Flight Form becomes available in Outland. This form is just as fast as a normal flying mount, but has the additional advantage of being an Instant Cast spell, allowing the Druid to gain flight in situations other classes cannot. A example of this would be to avoid falling damage (if not in combat) by shifting to flight before hitting the ground. It is also available earlier than other classes. *After purchasing Artisan Riding (5000g) and completing a quest chain, Druids gain Swift Flight Form, which is as fast as an epic flying mount (again with zero cast time). This form can also be gained from the trainer at level 71 (a Feat of Strength is earned by obtaining Swift Flight Form through the quest chain, though). Races Druid.]] The Druid class is the most limited class concerning races. Only one race per faction can become a druid, with one more for each being added in Cataclysm: Alliance * Night Elves * Worgen Horde * Tauren * Troll Armor and weapons Druids are able to wear cloth and leather armor only. Druids start out with different weapons depending on race; night elves begin knowing staves and daggers, while tauren begin with staves and one handed maces. Beyond that, druids can learn to fight with: *Staff *One-handed Mace *Two-handed Mace *Dagger *Fist weapon *Polearm (as of Patch 3.0.8) Druids cannot use shields (but in bear form their armor is as high as though they had one), and they cannot dual wield. "Held in off-hand" items can still be used. This leads to druids using either a two-handed weapon, or a 1H + off-hand item. Shapeshifting forms The druid's most notable ability is shapeshifting into different forms. Bear Form is obtained by doing a quest Druid Quests. The other forms are purchased from a class trainer. For a full list of druid Feral Form abilities, see Druid Abilities. For all forms, the following applies: *The Druid is immune to polymorph in all forms except the basic humanoid form. *Switching from polymorphed humanoid to another form breaks polymorph. *Shapeshifting also breaks all movement impairing effects (like Slow or Hamstring) and roots (Frost Nova or Entangling Roots) except the 3-second daze that can proc when one is attacked from behind by a melee attack. *Depending on the form, the druid is considered either humanoid (Caster and Moonkin), beast (Travel, Aquatic, Bear, Dire Bear, and Cat) or elemental (Tree of Life), and thus is vulnerable (or immune) to different spells. This also applies to being tracked. *Shapes are not buffs or magical effects, thus they may not be dispelled. While shapeshifted into Bear, Dire Bear, Cat, Aquatic, Travel, or Flight form: *The druid is considered a beast. *Mana regeneration still continues at the same speed as out of the form. Mana reducing abilities such as Mana Burn have no effect while in forms, though Viper Sting will continue to tick. It can however be removed as it is a poison. *Weapons with a "Chance on hit" effect as well as "Chance on hit" enchants such as Enchant Weapon - Crusader and Enchant Weapon - Lifestealing will now proc. "Chance on hit" effects built into armor pieces (as opposed to weapons), such as the Shattered Sun Pendant of Might's proc also work as of 3.02. *Weapon DPS and weapon +damage enchants have no effect, however, armor enchants such as the Enchant Ring - Striking enchant, and armor pieces such as the Crystalforged Trinket that boost weapon damage do work. The bonus damage from Weightstones and Sharpening Stones also does work. Weapon enchants that boost stats such as Attack Power and Agility rather than weapon damage also work. *Items with an "Equip: When hit ..." do work in forms. Some examples of these items are the Naglering and Darkmoon Card: Wrath's damage, Green Whelp Armor sleep and Shattered Sun Pendant of Resolve proc. *Weapon skill with the equipped weapon has no effect. Instead, the natural weapons always have the maximum weapon skill for their level. In Moonkin form, the druid is considered Humanoid and, while still immune to Polymorph and similar spells, can be affected by other abilities targeted at Humanoids such as Sap. Tree of Life is considered an Elemental and thus vulnerable to Elemental dependent spells such as Banish. Previously, weapon procs and enchants would only proc in Moonkin and Tree of Life forms, but now also proc in feral forms. A Druid Quests page exists with an outline for the level 10 (Bear), level 16 (Aquatic), and level 70 (Swift Flight Form) quests. Patch changes In Patch 3.2, druids will be able to customize the appearance of their feral forms. There will be five different designs for each of these forms for the Horde and Alliance. Night elves can choose to change their cat and bear look at any time by visiting the barber shop and changing their character's hair color, while tauren will be able to change which look they use by switching skin tones in the barber shop -- a new feature for tauren in the next major content patch. Given that there are more hair colors and skin tones than unique form looks, some colors and tones will overlap with these new textures. The hair and skin colors chosen will, in most cases, correspond with the color seen in the look of each form. Some similar colors that may share a particular cat texture will not necessarily share the same bear texture. Blizzard |accessdate=2009-06-12 |quote=In our next major content patch, druids will find a host of new textures for two major forms, cat and bear. }} Tauren-Bearforms.jpg|Tauren bear form Tauren-Catforms.jpg|Tauren cat form Nightelf-Bearforms.jpg|Night elf bear form Nightelf-Catforms.jpg|Night elf cat form Shapeshifting and Disguises If you shapeshift while wearing any disguise, you will notice that your form buff will remove the disguise buff. This is because of problems caused by the two buffs when they were allowed to stack. Blizzard didn't like the bugs that were made through these effects stacking even though they were used to have fun most of the time. Items like the Noggenfogger Elixir were then changed to not stack with Druid forms so that it would not cause any future problems. Some players state that the change was because of PvP reasons but there's some evidence that might prove that as false information. Here's a post made by Drysc responding to a poster on what it appears to be a deleted thread found on a BlueTracker: "Quote: If I remember correctly, the nerf for druids not being able to use noggenfogger in forms was because it was deemed overpowered in PvP." Spells In addition to healing spells, Druids also have excellent buffs. They also have a number of damage spells, making them (if properly geared and with proper talent point allocation) just as powerful, though less versatile, than Mages or Warlocks. Talents Druid talents are split into three categories: * Balance - Focus on Damage Spells to make the druid an efficient caster damage dealer. * Feral Combat - Focus on using the druid forms (Cat Form, Bear Form, Dire Bear Form) in the aspects of tanking (Bear/Dire Bear Form) and melee damage dealing (Cat Form). * Restoration - Focus on Healing Spells to make the druid an efficient healer. It is important to note that each druid talent tree contains some talents which are actually useful if specializing in one of the other trees. For example, some Feral Combat talents modify maximum mana, some Balance talents modify cost of healing spells, while others are helpful for the feral forms. Finally, some Restoration talents give the druid rage/energy when he switches into either Cat or Bear Form. Good talent calculators can be found here: Official Blizzard site, Wowhead, and ThottBot. End-game expectations While before the Burning Crusade expansion most druids were healers in the end game, new itemization and talents have made druids of any talent specialization viable in the end game and raids. There is no class better at healing over time than Restoration Druids. In raid encounters, where there is high mobility and cast times are often interrupted, a Druid is quite effective in healing due to the instant cast nature of their HoTs, enabling spells to be cast on the run. In arenas, Resto Druid teams are particularly feared by many, due to the Druid's ability to quickly cast HoT's on both partner and self, and the ability to keep out of harm with Travel Form, effectively kiting most opponents. Feral druids can fill the core role of tanking well as their threat generation is often better than that of warrior or paladin on a single target. While warriors have significant advantages on some raid bosses, feral druids have the unique flexibility to switch between tanking to dedicated melee DPS on demand. Ferals often tank bosses or mob groups where more tanks are required then change form and gear to DPS on bosses where only 1 or 2 tanks are required. It is also possible during a single fight, if the add they are offtanking dies. While protection warriors and paladins are rather limited to tanking with their talent trees, many talents of the feral tree are useful for both tanking and melee damage. Balance druids have become more popular with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Their various abilities, such as the famous Moonkin Aura, as well as the debuff Earth and Moon, increase the amount of damage spell casters in their party or raid can deal. The use of Entangling Roots indoors gives druids the ability to provide reliable crowd control on melee targets. Aside from their abilities, each spec bring along a powerful supportive aura to their group, increasing melee damage, caster damage or healing even further. Innervate during long fights and in-combat resurrection for emergencies are also very useful. See also *List of druids *Wrath tanking equipment (druid) *Wrath healing equipment (leather) *Druid sects *Druids as Tanks *Alamo *Spell power coefficient *Resto Druid Raiding Guide * DruidHeal (theorycrafting tool) References External links it:Druido he:דרואיד pl: